“I got a rock.” Dressed as the bride of Frankenstein, Cindy never expected that her friends would ditch her on Halloween night. She also never expected to be going through her trick or treat bag on the corner of the street. But that’s exactly what she was doing. She pulled the rock out of her bag. Some asshole had given her a damn rock instead of candy. She made a face and chucked the rock into the lot across the road. Something cried out in pain. She stood up. “Who is there?”
That’s when the dog appeared. White. Big floppy ears. She really was becoming Charlie Brown.
“Where’d you come from pooch?” She looked past the dog. Something was moving against the pitch black railing of the night in the empty lot. Something big. She took a step back.
The dog started growling. It was staring right at her, angled in such a way that threatened attack. Cindy froze. This dog, red-eyed and snarling, was nothing like Snoopy. It looked like it had broken free from a leash in Hell.
And then it charged.
Cindy dropped her bag. That’s when she was hit in the head by the rock she had pitched into the lot. She dropped like a rag doll. Out cold on Halloween night. While something tall remained in the shadows, the dog clamed onto Cindy’s hand and started dragging the lifeless body back toward the shadows.
Where something tall waited for its candy on Halloween night.
Pardon the semi-short story that leads off the review, folks. I am just super excited for the upcoming season and this NEW Halloween-themed release inspired me to CREATE. With new albums from Vampire Step-Dad and Gregorio Franco, this is going to be one hell of a great Halloween season, Ghouls and Boils! And our first release for all you synthriders out there comes from the dude that brought us the genre-defying one-two punch of Head Reset and Kardasynth!
Caspro is back with Dark Digital, a BRAND NEW 5-track EP that just might make puddles of all your brains. It is that ferociously fun! Never content to rest on his laurels, the synthwave producer returns to tear up the streets the kiddos trick or treat on with his AWESOME versions of the Goosebumps theme song, the Halloween theme, Stranger Things, and Andrew Gold’s Spooky Scary Skeletons. This release; however, wouldn’t be perfect without a haunting original, though. And that’s where the expressively surreal smoothness of “Dark Digital”, the only original song, comes into play.
There has always been in otherworldly intenseness to Caspro’s music. Engaging and euphoric, his soundscapes are complex and endlessly creative. Here, he has more than a little bit of fun and kicks off this release with “Spooky Scary Skeletons”, a focused version of the song that is demanding of attention with aggressive beats and soaring synthesizers. Think you know this song? Thing again. Because in Caspro’s hands this children’s song gets brutalized…in a damn good way.
And you WILL smile.
The gruesome good times continue with a most excellent cover of the Goosebumps theme song. Holy Hell. The introduction to the song was always a bit unsettling (before it settled into camp territory), but in Caspro’s hands, the song is FULLY realized. There are some seriously epic layers and patterns on display here and it is all crammed into a 3-minute blast of killer waves. Gone is the “ruff ruff ruff ruff ruff” from the original. It’s not missed either. This version, with its electronica ferocity, IS ALL WE NEED. {googleads}
The straightforward FUN soldiers on with an original tune. The song, “Dark Digital” is a mighty danceable tune of darkwave shenanigans. As the blades start turning, your ass WILL move. Here, Caspro arms himself with so many finger to keyboard moments that we cannot help but step back in wide-eyed wonder. This song, with church bell effects and frosty synth lines, will put you in a trance. Seduction is the name of the game here. Listen with the lights out and see if your ass isn’t transported back to the original Fright Night’s club sequence as Chris Sarandon has his way with Amanda Bearse.
Spellbinding, thy name is Caspro.
As if that wasn’t enough, Caspro delivers the demonic good with an intensely cosmic rendition of John Carpenter’s Halloween theme. Block rockin’ beats indeed, Chemical Brothers. Shit. Hold on to any object that is fastened to the ground because your ass is about to get knocked down. Caspro doesn’t just cover this song; he paints it in a way that only he can and makes THE SHAPE come alive again. What’s the boogeyman, Laurie? It is IN this song.
Giving the Stranger Things theme an outrun version is just a brilliant move. Highly danceable and groovy, the song that everybody knows and loves comes alive as it begins much like a wave crashes to the shore. A new depth is revealed here that, before fading into the electronic hum and buzz of its neon lettering, makes the song’s familiar notes kick about as something brand new again. It is a rousing moment of production that gets this release ending on one hell of a high AND HAUNTED note.
It’s Halloween. Everyone is entitled to ONE GOOD SCARE. Isn’t that how the line goes? Well, with the release of Dark Digital, Caspro returns to provide FIVE solid scares for the season. Get to ghosting!
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